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EDUCATION

MCS settles 1st Amendment cases for $30,000

Seth Slabaugh
The Star Press

MUNCIE, Ind. — Two former educators who were banned from Muncie Community Schools after criticizing the school district are receiving $15,000 apiece in out-of-court settlements.

Mike Ryan addresses the school board in February.

The Muncie School Board approved the settlements at a meeting Tuesday night without any discussion. 

After the meeting, board President Debbie Feick said the settlements with retired teacher Kay Rankin and retired principal Mike Ryan were confidential.

The two federal lawsuits were settled by the school district's insurance company, Feick said in an interview.

Ryan told The Star Press he and Rankin will each receive $15,000, out of which each will have to pay fees for their attorney. Ryan estimated attorney fees will take up about half of his settlement. The rest he plans to donate to Habitat for Humanity. Rankin plans to donate her proceeds to a fund to improve the Muncie Fieldhouse.

The settlement also removes the ban.

The retirees' attorney, Jason Delk, issued a statement to The Star Press: "We are very pleased that the school corporation has decided to use common sense, settle this dispute and rescind Ms. Rankin and Mr. Ryan’s ban from school property. The issuance of the ban was wholly without merit and should have never occurred in the first place.  

"The ban of two dedicated and long-standing school officials, as we indicated in our lawsuit, appeared to be in retaliation for Rankin and Ryan’s public criticism of the superintendent’s governance of MCS.  We are pleased that Ms. Rankin and Mr. Ryan can now continue to support MCS and volunteer their time to the institution for which they have spent the majority of their lives."

In an interview, Ryan said the settlement did not include any public admission of wrongdoing by the school district, "but giving us $30,000 and lifting the ban is basically an admission that they erred in their judgment in banning us from the school corporation."

He added: "We would have been … more satisfied if they came out with a public apology, but you can't get everything."

The two longtime educators sued after being banned in February from school property for "disruptive conduct." A month later, the ban was modified to allow them to continue to attend school board meetings — after the school district heard from their lawyer.

The primary target of the criticism was Superintendent Steve Baule, who spearheaded unpopular cost-cutting measures at the deficit-ridden school district.

Dr. Steve Baule speaks during a school board meeting on Tuesday, March 28, 2017.

While the lawsuit was filed in state court in Delaware County, the defendants had it removed to U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.

Feick last month told The Star Press: "Our insurance carrier, Argo Group, has negotiated an agreed resolution that will be subject to board approval at our Sept. 12 meeting."

Insurance is also covering the legal fees of Libby Roberts, a Fishers attorney defending Baule, the school board and the school district.

Ryan wore "Baule Must Go" T-shirts to school board and other meetings. He and Rankin accused the superintendent and school board of unlawfully rescinding early retirees' health insurance benefits (which did not affect Rankin or Ryan); of botching labor-contract negotiations with the Muncie Teachers Association (a fact-finder and a state board ruled in favor of the teachers); of harming the morale of teachers, staff, administrators and "the community as a whole;" and of "aggressive and unprofessional" behavior" on Baule's part.

The lawsuit accused the defendants of retaliating against the two former longtime educators by seeking to censor their Constitutionally protected freedom of speech.

Retired teacher Kay Rankin accepts the Citizen of the Month award from city council earlier this year.

The defendants denied the allegations and claimed Rankin and Ryan were interfering with the operations of the school. MCS claimed Rankin had unlawful access to school property via keys that were not properly in her possession, which allowed her to access the school in a way that was not generally available to the public.

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Seth Slabaugh is a reporter at The Star Press. Reach him at (765) 213-5834 or seths@muncie.gannett.com.